Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at risk of declining mental health due to failure to attend for referred follow-up mental health appointments during COVID-19

Abstract

In 2020, we were warned of an impending mental health crisis because of the COVID-19 pandemic (Usher et al. 2020). Little did we know that the pandemic would still be a major part of our lives 2 years later, with an end not yet in sight. During the last 2 years, communities across the globe have been subjected to periods of quarantine, lockdowns, stay-athome orders and other strategies implemented to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Unfortunately, these restrictions have had negative mental health and psycho-social consequences (WHO 2022), particularly for vulnerable populations (Rahman et al. 2021).